UN reform in an era of soft balancing

Stephen John Stedman, Stanford University, will give a public lecture at the School on Thursday 1 March examining UN reform.

This event is one in a series of events hosted by LSE asking The United Nations at 60 - relic or relevant? The next lecture in the series entitled What's Wrong with the UN?| with Joshua Muravchik, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and author of The Future of the United Nations: understanding the past to chart a way forward, on Thursday 15 March.

In this lecture, Stephen Stedman will contend that reforming the UN requires grappling with three paradoxes. First the interdependence caused by globalisation requires a new collective security system, while the deep fragmentation caused by globalisation makes this difficult to achieve. Second, the UN's reputation among the American people is at its nadir at the same time that the UN's role in addressing threats to American national security is at its peak. Third, UN reform requires US engagement and leadership at a time when many governments would rather have an ineffective UN than one that furthers the interests of the Bush administration.

Stephen John Stedman is director of the Ford Dorsey Program in International Policy Studies at Stanford University and in 2005 served as special adviser to the secretary general of the United Nations.

Professor Gwyn Prins, LSE, will chair this event.

UN Reform in an Era of Soft Balancing is on Thursday 1 March 2007 at 6.30-8pm in the Old Theatre, Old Building, LSE, Houghton Street, London WC2A. This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis.

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